Verizon Expects To Spend $18B On Fiber-Optic Project

Verizon Communications said today that it expects to invest a total of $18 billion through 2010 to deploy its fiber-optic network.

The New York-based telecommunications giant said it would have cost $4.9 billion to maintain its traditional copper-wire network over the same period.

Verizon said the project is on target to reach a total of 6 million homes by the end of the year, with an additional 3 million a year planned through 2010.

The company expects to pass 18 million homes with its fiber network by the end of 2010, or more than half of the roughly 33 million households in the company's 28-state wireline service area.

Verizon expects its fiber-optic, or FiOS, network to generate positive operating income starting in 2009. (Dow Jones)